Cool-Down Lap
Should a road course be added to the Chase? It's a mixed bag
June 23, 2014
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
SONOMA, Calif.—It's as predictable as a good Cabernet in the Sonoma Valley.
Every
time the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series comes to a road course, whether it's
Sonoma Raceway or Watkins Glen International some 2,700 miles to the
east, reporters pop the same
question—incessantly.
Should the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup include a road course?
Theoretically,
the idea is seductive. As the argument always goes, the Chase should
test every aspect of a driver's mettle, including his ability to turn
right as well as left.
In order to have a full examination of a driver's title-worthiness, you
have to have a road course in the 10-race playoff, which is top-heavy
on intermediate speedways.
From a
whimsical standpoint, the idea is equally fetching. If Sonoma Raceway
could be gerrymandered into the Chase, in October perhaps, the Cup
series would visit wine country
at its most magical time—harvest, when even the aroma of ripening
grapes is intoxicating.
What is
seductive in theory, however, runs headlong into practical reality.
Should a third road course be added to an already jam-packed schedule?
Or should one of the two
existing road courses be moved into the Chase at the expense of another
track?
Or
should an existing track lose a date to make room for a road course in
the Chase, keeping the schedule at 36 races? If so, who loses a race?
As
NASCAR President Mike Helton pointed out during an interview on FOX
Sports 1's “Race Hub” last week, it's hard to move any race on the
schedule without having a direct impact
on several other dates. That's why adding a road course to the Chase
isn't on NASCAR's front burner.
“I
won't sit here and say, ‘No,' but it's not on the short list right now,”
Helton said. “I'll never say ‘Never' to something like that. The road
courses have evolved on the
NASCAR Sprint Cup side and the Nationwide Series and trucks to be some
of our most exciting events.”
You
could also argue that, by moving one of the existing road courses into
the Chase, you would be removing one significant, diverse opportunity
for a driver with road course
acumen to qualify for the Chase. After all, isn't determining who makes
the Chase part and parcel of deciding the championship?
Precisely
because road course races have become exciting free-for-alls in recent
years, 2012 champion Brad Keselowski believes that adding a road course
to the Chase would
introduce another random element to a playoff that already has wildly
unpredictable Talladega in the mix.
“The
problem with road course racing in the Chase is that it turns into such a
wreck fest,” Keselowski told a small group of reporters over lunch in
San Francisco last Thursday.
“It's very exciting to watch, but when you're trying to award a
champion, I think you have to break down the criteria of what makes a
champion.
“In
NASCAR, for years, it's been consistency. This year it's kind of shifted
toward wins. If that's how you define a champion, then, yeah, I think a
road course should be in
there. If you're trying to define a champion by consistency, I don't
think a road course should be in there, for the pure reason that it's
extremely hard to be consistent on a road course.
“It's like a restrictor-plate track. It seems to be either feast or famine.”
Though
Helton says “Not now,” remember that he also says “Never say ‘Never.'
NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France has shown a willingness to embrace
change if he perceives
it's in the best interest of the sport.
So, who knows? The idea may grow on him—the way the grapes in Sonoma grow to full fruition in October.
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